Conveners
Astrophysics and Cosmology
- James Edwards (Univeristy of Plymouth)
Astrophysics and Cosmology
- Thomas Heinzl (Plymouth University, School of Computing and Mathematics)
We argue that measurements of X-ray polarization using the recently launched Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer will answer many open questions about magnetars in particular the physical state of their surfaces, whether vacuum birefringence exists, and the nature of the hard X-ray emission from these objects. We outline the capabilities of the instrument, specific models and the results of...
In this talk I will review the role of QED effects in magnetospheres of astrophysical compact objects, black holes and neutron stars. I will focus on the dynamics of electron-positron pair discharges in large unscreened electric fields, as well as on magnetic reconnection with strong radiative cooling and pair production. Finally, I will highlight observable emission signatures of these...
Time-dependent discharges of electron-positron pairs have recently been proposed as a primary ingredient to explain the nature of pulsar radio emission, a long-standing open problem in high-energy astrophysics. During these discharges - positive feedback loops of gamma-ray photon emission via curvature radiation by TeV electrons and positrons and pair production - the plasma self-consistently...
We discuss the fermion-antifermion polarization phenomena in strong magnetic fields that can be realized in heavy-ion collisions, laser fields, and neutron stars. We elaborate on its effects on birefringence when a photon is traversing the magnetic-field region [1].
The medium effects can drastically change the vacuum birefringence due to the Pauli blocking effect and the medium-specific...
In inflation models driven by an axion-like particle the inflaton may have a Chern-Simons coupling to the Standard Model (SM) U$(1)_Y$. In this talk we show that this setup is a highly predictive baryogenesis model without further ingredients other than the SM and the inflaton (and the origin of neutrino mass). During inflation this Chern-Simons coupling sources a dual production of the SM...
